Bruins salute Boston's response to bombing

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Boston • The Boston Bruins saluted rather than celebrated.

Ending a four-game winless streak and reaching a tie for first place in the Northeast Division with a 3-0 victory against the Florida Panthers on Sunday was secondary to the Bruins, considering all that's happened in Boston recently.

Each member of the team remained on the ice for a postgame ceremony to hand over their jerseys to a group of people who jumped in to assist the victims of the Boston Marathon bombing or members of law enforcement who participated in the manhunt that led to the capture of one of the suspects Friday night.

Thousands of fans remained for the ceremony, cheering as 26 jerseys were handed out to the heroes of a tragic week that could have been so much worse.

"There was still some electricity in the air when you look at the end of the game," Boston coach Claude Julien said. "Too much has happened in this past week to suddenly turn the corner and say we've forgotten. We haven't and we never will."

The "Shirt Off Our Backs" ceremony is actually an annual promotion for fans. But the Bruins said season-ticket holders asked instead for first responders to be the recipients.

"It's pretty overwhelming to see all the fans and all the players taking the time to say thanks," said Massachusetts State Police trooper Mark Spencer, who was holding on to the sweaty jersey Jaromir Jagr had just handed him. "We couldn't even walk through upstairs during the venue without people stopping us and thanking us."

Spencer piloted the helicopter equipped with a thermal imaging device that confirmed the 19-year-old bombing suspect was hiding in a parked boat in neighboring Watertown.

Jagr, whose goal 3:03 into the game gave the Bruins a 1-0 lead, said the players were grateful for the chance to meet and thank the honorees personally.

"It's part of our job to somehow help people  somehow make them happy," Jagr said. "It's a small help, but at least it's a help we can do. Hopefully they appreciate it and they are happy." EASTERN CONFERENCE

GP W L OT Pts GF GA

z-Pttsbrgh 44 34 10 0 68 150 108

x-Boston 44 27 12 5 59 123 97

d-Wash. 45 25 18 2 52 140 123

x-Montreal 45 27 13 5 59 139 120

x-Toronto 45 25 15 5 55 138 124

N.Y. Isles 45 24 16 5 53 134 131

Ottawa 44 23 15 6 52 108 96

N.Y. Rngrs 45 24 17 4 52 120 106

Winnipeg 45 23 19 3 49 121 134

New Jersey 45 17 18 10 44 106 121

Buffalo 45 19 20 6 44 118 138

Philly 45 20 22 3 43 124 137

Carolina 45 18 24 3 39 118 145

Tampa Bay 45 17 24 4 38 140 141

Florida 45 13 26 6 32 104 162

WESTERN CONFERENCE

GP W L OT Pts GF GA

z-Chicago 44 34 5 5 73 146 94

x-Anaheim 45 28 11 6 62 131 112

x-Vncver 45 25 13 7 57 121 110

x-L.A. 45 26 14 5 57 128 111

San Jose 45 24 14 7 55 118 109

St. Louis 45 26 17 2 54 119 112

Minnesota 45 24 18 3 51 116 119

Columbus 46 22 17 7 51 114 117

Detroit 44 20 16 8 48 109 112

Dallas 45 22 19 4 48 127 133

Phoenix 44 19 17 8 46 114 118

Calgary 45 19 22 4 42 123 149

Edmonton 44 17 20 7 41 111 124

Nashville 45 15 21 9 39 104 128

Colorado 45 15 23 7 37 109 142

d-division leader

x-clinched playoff spot

y-clinched division

z-clinched conference

Sunday's games

Boston 3, Florida 0

N.Y. Rangers 4, New Jersey 1

Carolina 3, Tampa Bay 2

Calgary 4, Minnesota 1

Colorado 5, St. Louis 3

Columbus 4, San Jose 3

Anaheim 3, Edmonton 1

Los Angeles 4, Dallas 3, OT

Monday's games

Winnipeg at Buffalo, 5 p.m.

Pittsburgh at Ottawa, 5:30 p.m.

Phoenix at Detroit, 5:30 p.m.

Anaheim at Edmonton, 7:30 p.m.

Chicago at Vancouver, 8 p.m.

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